“The way I look at it right now, unless it’s something that directly helps Burlington County, I’m not interested,” said Layton, whosse county includes a large portion of the 3rd Congressional District, which is a political bloodbath right now as U.S. Rep. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) attempts to defend his turf against Layton’s candidate, GOP challenger Jon Runyan.

Chairman of the Essex County Republican Party, O’Toole today told his fellow party chairmen that he is not interested in pursuing a second, two-year term when the chairmen meet next month in Princeton.

Layton said he feels O’Toole was effective in part because the classically Democratic stronghold of Essex was not a battleground for the GOP over the course of the past two years. Someone in a similar, demilitarized zone, albeit as head of a whooping GOP majority, is Warren County Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt, whom Layton said would be good as chairman of the chairmen.